Sunday, June 22, 2008

What is this blog? Well, it's about Michigan football. Comments, critiques, compliments, criticisms and a little funny thrown in for good measure.

Three of my M alum friends and I have been emailing back and forth, everyday, during each football season for the last couple of years. Sometimes our emails number close to 30 after big wins or tough losses. And while we're all huge Michigan fans, that doesn't mean we don't disagree often (as you'll soon find out). So I figured, if we can procrastinate that much during the week, let's see if others want to join in. Hey, if we're not going to get any work done, why not drag some complete strangers down with us.

So, here it is. This is my first blog so pardon the rookie mistakes I'm bound to make as I get this up and running (hell, I don't even know how to add pictures yet).

Welcome and...

Go Blue!

Little did I know back then just how many "strangers" we'd get to procrastinate with us - almost 4 million as I write these words tonight; a "little funny" morphed into (hopefully) a lot of funny for you, the reader; and thankfully, I did learn to add a picture or two to the posts.

It has been a hell of a fun ride.

But even the best of college football seasons has a final play as all things must come to an end. And like a football coach knowing when it's time to walk away from the game, it is time for me, and thus the MZone, to exit the blogosphere.

By last fall, my team of fellow MZone bloggers has dwindled down to just yours truly, which is no great surprise as running a daily blog can be a grind at times. That's why I have such respect for the many fellow bloggers I've gotten to know during the course of running the MZone who do it and do it so well.

But for me, it's gotten to be too much to continue on my own. Besides, half the fun of it was doing it with friends. And as much as I enjoy and enjoyed blogging, it was never a goal for it to be anything more than a hobby. Except for a brief flirtation with Google AdSense, we turned down each and every advertising offer we received. Because it wasn't about the making money. Hopefully that came through as you read over the last (not quite) three years.

Thus, rather than ever get to a point where people say, "Man, the MZone used to be so good. But now it sucks giant, Michigan-owning Buckeye nuts," I'd rather end it here on a high note and the old vaudevillian credo of "Leave them wanting more...caption contests and Photoshopped gems." And while I won't say never in terms of the MZone returning somewhere down the line - or in some other incarnation - if the passion returns, right now it's time to simply say farewell.

So thanks to all the fellow bloggers out there who have become, dare I say, cyberfriends during our little run. While I won't be posting here, you can bet I'll be lurking around your sites which I've grown to really enjoy over the last (not quite) three years.

Thanks to all our regular contributors who, quite literally, made the site possible with their great ideas, tips and suggestions. Without you, this site would have gone dark long ago.

Finally, thanks to you, the MZone reader for making the last (not quite) three years so much damn fun and rewarding. Your emails and kind words are what kept me doing it. All those, "You start my day with a laugh each morning" put a smile on my face as much as you said the site did for you. That's by far the hardest part to leave behind.

And so it would seem that the only 2 people in the world with a sense of humor and connection to a certain trade school have thrown in the towel. Pretty hard to stay motivated when Ole' Tress owns your ass and your team is approaching a 3 ring circus.... (be glad you're not the IU basketball program)!!!

Good luck gentlemen.... this Buckeye respectfully says thank you for some chuckles, most interesting web links, and a few minutes many days to not get work done.

Where's all the love from the MI fans who frequent this blog? I can honestly say that this came as a blow to me. I stumbled upon this site near the end of football season last year and have loved it ever since and was looking forward to the upcoming season. Sure there are other MI bogs out there but they just don't carry what the Mzone has been able to carry since I found it. I thank you for the all consuming time you must have put into this and totally understand when you say you must let it go. Thanks for the laughs and memories.

While I've enjoyed more than a few laughs at my team's expense, I wish you well. I know that pulling for UM in these times is tough. You are like our Bucks under Cooper, without the great expectations of success. I'll miss your misguided views and those of the other commenters who, due to bad parenting, bleed maize and blue. I thought you would wait to retire the blog until after Cowherd got fired.

Wow, sorry to see this go. I found this site almost 3 years ago and have greatly enjoyed it. I am a Univeristy of Georgia grad, but originally from Ohio. I often used this site as a reference tool when a good Ohio State insult was needed for my relatives still stuck up there.I checked in daily, and had been anticipating the upcoming football season, which always brought out the best in this site.Good luck with your real life, as you join the rest of us in searching the internet for sites like this to make the day a little more tolerable.

Wow - I'm with T9 on the this feeling like a bad breakup thing. Friends you say... I hope so. You better be prepared to pay the $4MM due to the funny blog buyout clause. :)

It's been a helluva run. Be proud- when I first discovered this site not too long after you started, the order of sites I checked each morning before starting work was the local news, national news, Gamecock's rivals site, here, then Orson's. It took only a few months that your site moved to the top before even the Gamecocks sites and local news.

I hate to see it end, but to say the writing on the wall wasn't evident for a while wouldn't be true. Thanks for sticking out as long as you can. Your efforts here were very much appreciated.

I'm thinking of joining World of Warcraft just to find Benny playing from his mother's basement, kill off his character and call him a punk for leaving you alone here.

T9, Sru, Andy, Whets, SiC, C/Katie, Josh, Crabapple, Dezzi, BigAssHamm, Beast of Bama, all of you, and especially Yost, and many more I'm forgetting I'm sure - enjoyed the conversation with you all.

While I'm going to miss this post and the "soap-operaesque" dialogue of its members, my boss is pretty psyched to have his employee back to work... thanks, Yost, for years of enjoyment- and smack Benny on the back of the head for letting you down!

Despite being a Penn State alum, I enjoyed reading your blog daily via Bloglines. You definitely had one of the most reliably entertaining college football blogs out there and will be missed. Good luck.

found out about your blog during the Colin Cowherd scandal and have been a loyal reader ever since...and I was pumped when you posted a few pics and articles I sent you (the most infamous one was the scoreboard after the Appy State game--which started a trend for the rest of the season...)

here is hoping that you will have a "Michael Strahan like" resistance and come back in late August with a vengence!

Best of luck, Yost. I can sympathize with the daily grind of running a blog. That you did it for three years and did it so well is commendable. The M Zone was the second website I checked every morning after BSD.

They say all good things must come to an end. In this case, it certainly applies. Blogging's tough, and you guys had a fantastic run. Thanks for all the fun, and if the spirit ever moves you to post once again, you know we'll be here.

Oh man, that's too bad. I say just call it off for the summer. You have a whole new era of Rich Rodriguez to cover and comment on. This got me into reading CFB blogs, and it was hilarious. All best to you, Yost, and everyone else with whom I enjoyed joking about and discussing Michigan--and yes, Ohio State--football.

Yost,Your blog was as good as an ol' fashioned SEC beat down of OSU in a bowl game! (naturally those are good for obvious reasons regarding recent history... Lloyd oh how you tried me!) I'm gonna miss your hip and comical twist put on such a righteous and noble matter. You were truly the champion of your niche in the Michigan blogging world... and the rest for that matter. Hope to see you rise again at some point in the future, and once again... Thanks!

Oh and srudoff, it is possible to blog in crayon, Marines do it all the time!

At least have the god-d@mn courtesy to include some healing pics .....

Mzone was always the right balance of humor and football for me. I love Mgoblog, but most days its 'too long did not read' from Brian. And I'm afraid to say that 95+% of UM based blogs are either terrible or just aren't my cup of tea.

I'll miss 'know your foe' the most.

As it seems everything in the UM world these days.....

"Sunrise doesnt last all morning

A cloudburst doesnt last all day

Seems my love is up and has left you with no warning

Its not always going to be this grey"

Best wishes for a happy blogger retirement. I suppose its better to be a 'seinfeld' and go out hot than to drag on like 'the simpsons'.

The last haven of sanity in the sports world is gone. I don't know what your day job is Yost, but you don't do it better than this. What more can I say, I'm a Buckeye and this is my favorite sport site. Now I'm adrift... adrift...

I had a feeling this was coming and T9 is also right, it feels like a horrible break up. :o(

There are not many places a "girl" can go and talk football.........and other sorted topics........*sigh*

Yost, you have a wonderful sense of humor and it was such a pleasure to be part of this community with all the regulars. I am truly going to miss you all! Thank you Yost for the time you gave us, it was fun!

Hugs all around! (even those pesky UOS fans!!)

I will continue reading over at Brian's site, comments will be limited, I don't get a warm and fuzzy over there like I did here!

Remember when you were a kid and your best friend moved? Okay, too melodramatic. Hmmmm. Not sure what to say. I love hanging out with people that aren’t in lockstep. The friendships (yeah, I know it’s cyber-space, give me some slack) won here mean more when you’ve battled with someone over passionately held beliefs or opinions. A good partisan smack-down concluded with grudging respect extended in both directions is its own reward. Multiply the joy when it occurs within the dragon’s lair.

I appreciate everyone on this site for accepting those of us with THE scarlet letter. Not an easy task all things considered. Yes, even DuhBraylon and Lord Vada made me feel like part of the gang even when they were telling me how intensely they despised me and the horse I rode in on. Isn’t love funny? (A blog in crayon. Aahahaha…Priceless.)

I will miss this great community with posters from all over the world. I learned a lot by coming here. To those who had my back early on—thanks. I know you risked your integrity with other Michigan fans. Can you use “integrity” and “Michigan fan” in the same sentence? SiC, how would you rule on that?

Yost and crew, thanks for all you have done. What a great site. You managed it with just the right amount of authority which made things intense, fun and civilized. Whoa! “Michigan” and “civilized” in the same thought. Another conundrum for me to grapple with. (Insert tOSU couch-burning comment here).

Man, this bites! I was looking forward to the start of the season, the daily vitriolic back and forth, “Know Your Foe,” another *yawn* OSU victory over Michigan, OSU’s first victory over an SEC team, an invitation to T-9’s Quinceañera party, an autographed avatar picture from Catie, strategy sessions with wing and srudoff regarding ambushes of selected posters,* dating SiC’s wife. Gone, all gone.

+1 on sabbatical until football season. my first bookmark when i wake up, mid day, and before bed, i would like to keep it that way hahaha i can't help it i'm selfish, but like surrounded in columbus, we are screwed out here!

good luck in whatever it is that you do. If youd decide you miss us come football season, feel free to come back, we will be VERY pleased : )

Ah you magnificent bastard. Even though I've taken up residence elsewhere lately in my hourly time wasting you were still a daily stop. Without your content and the crazy bunch of yahoos here there's no way I would've made it through the stark greyness of my first Michigan winter in 12 years.

Whets- I still have a t-shirt coming for you man. Before the season starts, I SWEAR.

Catie- I'll be talking to you.

T9- WTF did you do to get banned from MGoBlog? That's virtually impossible.

SiC, Sarge, Sru, Jim (btw, did you ever get your Florida/ App state T-shirt?) B.A.H., I thank all of you for the conversation and you will be missed.

I'll be slinging drinks in the Royal Oak area come this fall as I attempt to become my own boss in my spare time- if any of you want to stop in drop a line over at MGoBlog and ask where I'll be- I post as Ninja Football over there. Oh, and the first beer is, of course, on me.

And Yost, I figure I owe you a few rounds at the very least as payment for all the laughs.

So....May the road rise to meet you, May the wind be always at your back, May the sun shine warm upon your face. And until we meet again, May God hold you in the palm of his Maize and Blue palms.

Yost, just like everyone else has said, your blog was a daily stop for me to read what funny things you had to say and some off the wall things such as the man who went insane in the office just a couple posts ago.

Yost, While unquestionably the very thought of me arranging words in a logical fashion to wish you off properly is counter to every fiber of my being having attended the junior college with a professional (see: paid) football team composed entirely of ex-cons down in Columbus, I will attempt to rebuke nature and do just that. You've done your school, your conference, and most of all your medium proud and your contributions will be sorely missed. Best of luck in your personal life and any and all future vehicles for your creative talent.

It is way to early or late (depends on how you look at it) for April Fools.

OR

Has your family values erroded and you are quitting to startup the buckeyezone.blogspot.com?

As have many others stated this was almost always my first link of the day, even if it the material wasn't safe for work. Thanks for the great laughs the last 2+ years, the healing pictures, the unfinished CO-ED Showdown, and mostly the great community you fostered and brought together (even if it did include $uckeyes fans).

Maize and Blue HANDS. Jesus. Anyone know a good exorcist- I'm becoming more and more convinced I've been possessed by a dyslexic crack whore from Duluth.

You know if you guys just want a romper-room style forum where anyone can post a topic and then you could chat amongst yourselves that can be easily arranged. I might even be persuaded to donate the domain name.

So I've been thinking all day wtf am I going to do without all you wonderful people to talk to and share cute pictures of my daughter in her MI gear. Yes we could post on Mgoblog but as others have stated the comments section is a nightmare. Trying to follow a conversation on there is ludicrous with the 100 or so 1 word posts. This blog at least let you feel like you were all at a table discussing something and were laughing or crying together. I would love to stay in touch with the regulars I've come to know on here. Although I am "Stuck In Ohio" (saw this as a bumper sticker on a car today and laughed) I try to come out to MI for at least 1 football game a year and usually try to attend the fan day. Now with the baby I will probably find less and less time to make the 3 hour drive which saddens me.

Any and all who would like to stay in touch can email me at my blogger name @neo.rr.com or my blogger name is also my AIM name but I'm rarely on there unless there's someone I want to talk to.

I also had a thought and am putting this out there for all to discuss that we could start a yahoo group or google or so forth. I could even set it all up if need be. Aside from this summer where I will be driving the big brown truck all day I'm still a couple years off from being full time full time (if that makes sense) and when I work part time I am home all day till about 5pm. We could keep topics going like know your foe where someone new took the reigns of gathering the information for each weeks games and could just also post local news or things we've seen/done that we want to discuss. I know at least for yahoo groups you can post pictures also so anyone with funny pics or just pics of things you've done can share them.

It's just a thought cause seriously I don't know what I'm going to do with my time now. I enjoy reading the Mgoblog articles for their newsworthiness and such but posting a comment on there is a waste of my time to be honest.

hey, i wasn't always your biggest fan (subscribed and unsubscribed several times over the years, for various reasons)...but you have my admiration for doing it as long as you did AND for going out in an honest way.

I started reading your blog back in 2005 when Nebraska finally had the chance to play Michigan, and I've been hooked ever since. Your unique brand of comedy and delivery will be missed in the blogosphere. Best of luck in your future endeavors!

while I am great at spouting off, I mean commenting, on line I truly lack the techincal accumen required to keep this blog running. Anyone have any ideas where we can keep our little chat room going???

Assuming you are keeping this domain, when football season rolls around you should post a simple "Open Thread" each week to let the regulars converse among themselves. My wife (never much of a football fan) has spent the last few weeks reading this blog FROM THE BEGINNING and she was so disappointed today she didn't even visit the site. She likes the posts but she likes reading the comments just as much and offering up an open thread would keep the regulars coming and commenting without taking up your time. It's just a thought. Thanks for the insight and the laughs when we needed them most. Godspeed

Yost I wish I would have found this site earlier. I have had only the past year to enjoy your writing and wit. Thanks for the hours of entertainment and laughs. I can understand where you are coming from. It would be hard to maintain a blog everyday...or at the very least once or twice a week. Good luck on anything you do in the future. If I see you in a bar anytime drinks are on me.(I say that knowing I will never probably meet you in a bar.....it's the thought that counts though)

if you guys get another community going, please post it here. definitely going to miss the commentary here. We could just start another blog as well. We a few of the regulars posting rights, and when nothing is posted, just put a argue amongst yourselves thread up.

i'd like to be informed also if you guys decide to keep it going with a new community. I'd prefer if we stayed at this one *hint hint* but at least we can all still chat otherwise..... Someone post the link in here if we decide on a son of type deal.... i agree, if Yost comes back, the new site gets fired! hahaha

I am saddened to see this news. As a UGA with no connection to Big Ten football save for my dad who is a Penn St. alum, I was always interested to see what was going on outside my hallowed SEC halls. That this blog was so witty and insightful only brightened the experience. "Know Your Foe" was the cream of the maize and blue crop--had our respective teams had the good fortune of squaring off, I would've happily contributed. Take care Yost and everyone else, it's been emotional.

I like some of the comments/suggestions to keep the Mzone on life support...especially a weekly "open thread" which would not be a "time suck" on your real life...I know you may need some time to recharge, and to quote Bob Ufer "God Bless your cotton pickin' Maize and Blue heart!"

I must echo the sentiments to keep the community going whether it be via a new domain (i.e. Spawn of MZone or the others suggested) or just a open thread (benefits of no time sucking form real life/work life/ etc.).

Another possible suggestion would be for one or a group of regular contributors to take over control (assuming Yost is ok with the suggesion). While this could never compare to the initial blog, it would keep the community intact at the same location. I unfortunately didn't have the time to be a regular contributor (but was a regular reader),but I think there could be a way to make it work. Just my 2 cents worth.

Long live the MZone in eternal glory, and Godspeed Yost and all the community.

And now for a hasty tribute/idea stolen from the movie cool runnings.

Our MZone which art in Ann Arbor, Football be thy name. Thy kingdom come, national titles won on earth as it is in Pasadena. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our buckstache hatred. And forgive us our hatred, as we forgive our haters. And lead us not into TOSU, but deliver us from TOSU: For Michigan is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

Yost:You know you did a great job when sooo many different people with sooo many different options come to a Michigan Blog for no other reason then it makes them think and more importantly makes them laugh. I leave you these words "I have never anything like this in my 40 years of covering football"."We" all are looking up at Fielding H Yost in football's Valhalla... saying thank you Fielding Yost...thank you Fielding Yost for that one!!!"

Irony of ironies, you hang it up one day before this story breaks. I mean, the guy's wearing a red shirt and has his buckstache on his chin. His phone. Where the sun don't shine. Come on, M-zone. One last posting. For old time's sake! Don't make me start posting stuff like this on my blog...

I'm a buckeye, but will miss your blog. I know you mentioned you started this to have fun with your friends & that it's getting to be to much. Maybe you should take advertising money, maybe you should set it up to do full time. Maybe what you do for a living was to pass the time until you found the thing that you were meant to do. What if John Grisham never wrote a book because it took away from practicing law, or Gerald Ford stopped watching Michigan football because it took away from his time being the president :) Maybe this was what you were meant to do. Take the ball and run. Expand on it with a newsletter and mail to "your subscibers" with an extra charge for the newsletter... Just a thought! I just wish I was this good & had such a good product to sell... This comming from a buckeye :)

As a Michigan alum married to a buckeye fan and living in columbus...this site made it possible to live in Columbus. Please please reconsider doing some commentary during football season. The buckstache got me through last football season and I need some new material for the upcoming season.Just know that you will be missed!

Being a Buckeye fan, I must say this is a sad day. I check this blog regularly because this is a blog that included it all: humor, good information, entertainment, etc. So, as a friendly rival, thanks for the good times and congratulations for creating such an awesome blog and good luck. Cheers.

OK, so I go to another sports website, ya know, trying to fill the void and this is the commentary!!!???--"What happened is just a fairly rational response to the incentive structure of the game. I'm having a hard time understanding some of the comments, especially the 3rd grade argument and the "two wrongs don't make a right" one. Both are off. And many wrongs do make a right. The clichee has nothing going for it except the associated knee jerk reaction. Laws breakdown when the incentives to disregard them outweigh the incentives to abide by them. And what is legal and not is no absolute good but a product of the times. I hope the system will be changed to reflect reality and not this outdated student-athlete archetype that no longer exists. In the end, prospective NBA talents major in basketball and those good enough are one and done. The solution is to repeal Stern's 1-yr college requirement, case closed."--

(I'm just saying, that's what is out there on other sites.......so now that the supreme court once again legalized guns, can someone just shoot me??)

Your esteemed Genius of Frivolity has gone and torn his ACL (in all probability- I'm still waiting on a real live medical opinion) so I've been dealing with that for two days and not looking up forum info.The good news is I won't be upwardly mobile this weekend and can work on it then.

Oh, and if you know any intelligent beautiful women who have a thing for guys who limp and have severely different sized legs, please send them my way. Preferrably ones who'd like to hand feed me grapes. Grapes are terrific for the healing process you know.

You left out the best parts of the article you Michigan-leaning spinmeister.

Yeah, she's from Ohio, but her drop was in Ann Arbor. Something about chocolate milk, weight-training and a doobie equating to SEC speed. I wasn't sure what that meant. Anyway, after the following description...

"The suspect is described as a black male, 27 to 30 years old, about 6 feet 2.

He weighs between 180 and 200 pounds, has a mustache and gold capped teeth. He was wearing a white t-shirt and blue jeans."

...I would check to see where the UM secondary was on the night of the robbery.

Also, have them come up with a better disguise: a buckstache for goodness sake!

To steal a line or two from a great 80's song....PLEASE DONT GO DONT GOOOO Please dont go...Hate to see you leave this was the FIRST Michigan blog I ever went to and was looking so forward to this season with all the changes to see your coverage..THANK YOU for all the great pics especially the Texas A&M girl....Like two perfect loaves of bread those cheeks were. GOOD LUCK in all you do and please rethink the end....GO BLUE!

Ok, now you little peon UOS fans (not whets and Sru) there is NO need to come here and post SHIT about Michigan on the last post of this blog. That is disrespectful and VERY annoying! I am certain that you have better things to do, like trimming your mustache.

@joshua - Sorry to hear about the injury. I have no other way of contacting you, but I tore my ACL in August and had reconstructive surgery in January. if you want any advice or anything lemme know (you can get to my e-mail via the blogger profile).

I know I've been slow to start my blog, but I put up a post yesterday. I'll try to continue Benny's "Know your foe" tradition for Michigan and the other schools I cover. I don't know about the coeds, though, they just remind me how miserable my life is. :) (Also, my computer's kinda broken and I have no idea what to watch when there are no college sports on. I hate pro sports! All of them!)

I blame Benny. I say a couple of us go over to his house, shove him around a little until he falls down and starts to cry. Then I say we steal his bike and chuck it up in old man Johnson's oak tree. Of course we'll have to do it before 4 o'clock when his mom gets home from her job at the library...

Yost- you've created quite a community here. You should be proud of this. My grandest moment was when I actually wrote something funny enough to warrant a response by you, never happened again...Good luck with the rest of your days altho you'll never realize the glory, the fame or get as many girls as you did right here.Thanks! A2saint (thats "eh two"- not eh squared the way the kids say it now)

For those who don't know have started a Yahoo Group in honor of this blog and to keep some of the community alive. So far we are up to 3 members but hopefully will grow over time. Will always be free and a safe fun place to interact. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/themzone/also see the Spawn of M-zone blog for your blogging needs.http://spawnofmzone.blogspot.com/

Suck it up man, you've got a family (of bloggers) to feed! Where will we be without your whitty insights?

I would say your going to be missed and yada yada yada but me thinks you're like Brett Favre and will somehow find "the itch" once football season rolls around. So enjoy your time off, get some rest, and be ready for Buckeye fans to be back here with a verbal beat-down this Fall. Let's keep this thing going!

Also, you guys should check out http://eastcoastbias15.blogspot.com/ which is my blog. I've been posting more frequently over the past few days. I have a few posts up that you might want to see (nothing directly related to Michigan yet, but there will be soon, and there's a tUOS post and a Penn State post).

Have you gotten the Favre"itch"? (maybe its a rash) with the new season slowly approaching is there a possibility to dust off those photoshopping skills? or at least an occasional "know your foe?" Either way, I enjoyed reading your blog, thank you!

You run like a rocket. When I read this blog, I cannot control our tears. You will be definite missed. Hope to see you back in the photosphere, Thank you for both the link and the laughs you have given me over the past few years._____________________________jeffAddiction Recovery Michigan

Thanks for being a badass and for being True Blue-people appreciate other die hard fans who are open to everything.. I have pissed myself quite a few times reading your posts. You're a great sport. Best wishes.

Way to represent the Big Blue. You may want to check outvote4yourcoach.com to represent your team there. The site just went up and so far Michigan has no votes. The really cool part is that the site also raises money for your school.

Well, if this ain't a frosty Friday! Let me say, losing you guys sucks really big donkey dongs. This has been my absolute most favorite blog, the one I always checked first. Now that football season is here, and you are not, you have left a big hole to be filled. You will be missed. I always appreciated your take on Michigan sports, you gave some perspective to my world seen thru Orange & Blue glasses. Excellent run!

Follow the MZone

Subscribe To

The MZone-slash-MichiganZone.net-slash-MichiganZone.blogspot.com is in no way affiliated with the University of Michigan and/or U-M football in any way. If you thought it was, frankly I'm surprised you know how to use a computer.